Down Under Diaries

16-year old Matt Banting put in a valiant effort against the 10X World Champ but ultimately came up short. Photo: Checky

Snapper Rocks Comes To LifeAfter a week of less than ideal conditions, we finally saw the real Snapper Rocks today for the mid rounds of the Quiksilver and Roxy Pro.

Ripping Wahines
The girls were up first today with Carissa Moore and Tyler Wright leading the charge in the long, head high conditions. Carissa in particular was impressive, executing one of the best turns of the event—our little Hawaiian friend was ripping!

Slater Scores
As the tide began to draw out, Snapper turned into, well, Snapper. Roping tubes dirtied by sand spun down the point, and guess who happened to be out there for the best 30 minutes of the day? Yep, Kelly Slater. The 10X World Champ toyed with the tubes and treated his opponent, Matt Banting, like a cat with a dying mouse. After securing a pair of 7s, he had the audacity to switch boards for no other reason than to experiment with his equipment. Cocky? Maybe. But when you have ten titles you pretty much have carte blanche in the etiquette department.

Shockers
-Mick Fanning lost out to Maui’s Dusty Payne in the second consecutive event (Dusty best Fanning at Pipe in December to seal his spot on tour this year). Fanning felt like he was a victim of no waves coming in, but gave credit where credit was due and commented on Dusty’s ripping via twitter, “Well done dusty!”
-Owen Wright, who many consider to be a 2011 World Title threat, was dusted by rookie Brazilian Alejo Muniz who borrowed a page from Adriano De Souza’s playbook and caught a bunch of waves, slowly building momentum and confidence.

The Present vs. Future
Julian Wilson, who’s been deemed ‘The Chosen One,” met up with Taj Burrow in one of the last heats if the day. With an incoming tide, plenty of waves came through and it was interesting to note each surfer’s plan of attack. Julian zeroed in on the tube while Taj unleashed fury on the lip. While Julian may have been underscored a bit, to beat an established veteran, a rookie has to smash ‘em so the judges have no choice but to give you the score. Watch out folks, Taj is in red-hot form and knows how to win events…

The Coolie Kid
Joel Parkinson is the last remaining Gold Coast local after the elimination of Bede Durbidge, Mick Fanning, Josh Kerr, and Mitch Crews. Suffice to say, Parko is the last guy you’d want in your heat no matter where he’s from…dude was looking deadly today.—JC